'KZN premier must listen to striking health workers and fire Dhlomo'

DURBAN - The Democratic Alliance has urged KwaZulu-Natal premier Willies Mchunu to heed the rising call of unions in the province to fire health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo without delay.

The appeal came after National Education, Health, and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) and the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) members marched this week over poor working conditions, including dire staff shortages, while also calling for the MEC to be axed.

Earlier this week, nurses from Osindisweni Hospital also marched over the MEC’s complete lack of leadership within the department, DA KwaZulu-Natal MPL Imran Keeka said on Sunday.

The DA had been fighting for Dhlomo to be axed for several years as the province reeled from an unprecedented oncology crisis, he said.

"During two recent oversight inspections as part of our #HospitalHealthCheck campaign, the DA witnessed first-hand just how badly nursing staff shortages are affecting patient care with long queues, no care in casualty wards, and various complaints of rudeness by nurses. There can be no doubt that many of these annoyances are the result of fatigued and burnt-out staff due to the reduced nurse to patient ratios.

"These issues are a direct result of a provincial ANC government that does not care. It is this same government that froze all critical posts, including those in healthcare in 2015. Following several legislative processes engaged in by the DA, we were informed that the moratorium on healthcare staff had been lifted. This has turned out to be the biggest lie peddled by the MEC, his department, and the premier to date as red tape continues to see critical posts unfilled," Keeka said.

In 2015 KwaZulu-Natal had about 2200 nursing vacancies and 21,000 applicants. This confirmed that there was no shortage of people seeking such employment. In a more recent response to parliamentary questions by the DA, the premier revealed that there were now a staggering 5926 vacancies for critical posts, including nurses, doctors, and other personnel in the province.

"While KZN’s health portfolio committee has been informed that a staff audit is underway and that criteria will be established for a minimum staff establishment per facility in the province, the process is not yet complete. This will only lead to even less unsatisfactory working conditions and patient care. Also alarming is that not enough funding has been allocated in this year’s budget to cater for increased staff employment, making it even less likely that more nurses or doctors will be employed.

"The premier must listen to the people at the very heart of healthcare in our province and fire MEC Dhlomo. Failure to do so will show that he too does not care," Keeka said.